The Gospel of Eve

Once again I dip back into the Panarion by Epiphanius, this time referencing the lost text, “The Gospel of Eve.” This Gnostic (Borborite) text survives in two quotations. Keep this in mind when reading the following because there is no context behind what is being said, either from within the gospel itself or the purpose of Epiphanius’ slandering (he goes on and on ranting about the group, lol). For this first quotation, I changed the wording slightly to make for an easier modern English reading.

I stood upon a high mountain and saw a tall man, and another of short stature, and heard as it were a sound of thunder and went nearer in order to hear. Then he spoke to me and said: I am you and you are I, and where you are, there am I, and I am sown in all things; and where you wilt, you gathered me, but when you gathered me, then gathered yourself.

Now with no context in mind, nor do we know who is saying this (is it Eve? another character?), what can we take from this fragment? I see this as some sort of vision where the higher power is revealing itself to be a part of everything. We have in all of us sparks of divinity from the true “God”, thus in all of us and everything, there in lies the divine source. This phrase also reminds me of the Gospel of Thomas saying 77:

Jesus said, “I am the light that is over all things. I am all: from me all came forth, and to me all attained. Split a piece of wood; I am there. Lift up the stone, and you will find me there.”

There is a second fragment that exists and Epiphanius claims it is in reference to the group’s ritual partaking of ingesting menstrual blood. Now the evidence of such claims can not be verified, so I can’t really comment one way or another on the claim. That being said, here is the fragment:

I saw a tree bearing twelve manner of fruits every year, and he said unto me, This is the tree of life.

So if we take Epiphanius at his words, this tree would be represented by a female and the twelve manner of fruits would be the monthly menstrual cycle. He claims that the group see menstrual blood to be the blood of Christ. He goes on a rant about the group speaking of how they have sex for enjoyment, not for procreation, and if by some chance any of the women get pregnant, an abortion is performed. The fetus is then mixed with honey, pepper, and other spices. Finally, all the members perform an act of cannibalism and eat this “dish”. This is apparently to mock the archon of lust. As I mentioned before, these claims can’t be verified and perhaps Epiphanius is projecting some sort of deep emotions within himself, lol. Then again, he could be right. This act would definitely be a mockery towards the archon of lust.

This is all that survives of this text unless it somehow emerges from the sands of Egypt (fingers crossed!). I will be revising Epiphanius and his rants against the Borborites in future posts. Stay tuned!!

Artwork is midjourney created, based on the first fragment.

-bP